The Best Thing
by immaculatemoonlight
Summary: They tried to make it work. They tried to move past the weight both his father and Chloe had on their relationship. They tried to stay together, but can love overcome all?


**Need to know things for this story:**

 **This is an AU (alternate universe) in which there are no miraculouses or kwamis or superheroes or anything. There will be no Ladybug or Chat Noir. There will be Adrienette of course, but we have to get there. This story is very special to me, and it hasn't been an easy writing process. I hope that each person who decides to read this enjoys this story. It'll be a journey that I'll enjoy taking with each and every one of you!**

 **Thank you for joining me!**

Adrien Agreste had started attending College Francoise Dupont sophomore year. From that very first day, Marinette knew that he was the one for her. When she thought of him, the word _soulmate_ popped into her head. Which might seem a little extreme when you found out that they had a total of five conversations. They were in the same Literature class sophomore year, but she doubted he would remember. She knew she wasn't very memorable; in fact, if she had to describe herself, she would say she was quite plain. People only knew her as the class president and "that clumsy girl".

Over a year later, she still had a seat behind him in some class or another. She sat behind him in history _and_ in anatomy. Again, she doubted he would know that. Sure, he would smile at her sometimes when he walked into class… but that didn't mean he had a clue about who she was. Ah, who was she kidding! Of course he didn't know! He was a world famous model! And who was she? Some amateur designer?

If you asked her what her favorite color was, she would describe the forest green of his eyes… or maybe the honey color of his hair. Her favorite sound would forever be the way he laughed when his umbrella closed on her. She had an entire sketchbook dedicated to attempting to draw him. She wasn't surprised to find that she had improved at drawing him over the past year; she stared at him quite a lot. It was her favorite thing to do.

In fact, it was what she was currently doing. The back of his head happened to be her favorite sight, and sometimes she managed to find a few hairs that were out of their usual place. Today, unsurprisingly, his hair was absolutely perfect. She sighed, a small smile crossing her face.

She should've been paying attention to her history teacher, but she couldn't bring herself to listen to his ramblings on the French Revolution. It was a topic she knew a lot about, especially because every year they seemed to go over the same subjects. She sighed again, this time focusing her gaze on the board. She really didn't want to miss any notes, so she scribbled them down in her tablet. She worked quickly, occasionally listening to her teacher. Her mind, however, was focused on Adrien. She often daydreamed of him, wondering what it would be like to talk to him or to kiss him…

The bell rang, ending the class and interrupting her thoughts of Adrien's kissing. A furious blush formed on her cheeks as she leapt out of her chair. The chair fell backwards, silencing those around her. She groaned as she began picking it up, annoyed at her clumsiness.

"Are you okay?" _He_ asked. Marinette's head whipped up, catching on the bottom of her desk. She dropped the chair and clutched the back of her head.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Adrien asked again, rushing over to help her stand. Her eyes met his, and she blushed again.

"I-I'm f-fine," she stammered, standing up straighter. "Peachy keen!"

"You hit your head pretty hard," Adrien's eyebrows furrowed as he turned her around. He moved her long hair out of the way and inspected her head. "You have a nasty bump there. Let me walk you to the nurse…"

"O-oh! No! Its fine, I can walk myself!" She turned around, running her hands through her hair. She had been running late that morning, and hadn't had time to throw her hair into her signature two tails.

"Marinette, I insist on walking you. A delicate lady such as yourself shouldn't have to walk herself to the nurse after an injury!" He pressed, holding his arm out.

She chewed on her lip, mind racing. Adrien Agreste had his hands in her hair. Adrien Agreste was offering to take her to the nurse. She must've hit her head pretty hard if he was offering to take her to the nurse…

She giggled. "A delicate lady…"

Adrien's frown deepened. "Okay, yeah. Definitely taking you to the nurse." He took her hand when she didn't take his arm, and began to slowly lead her out of the classroom. Their professor didn't bother to glance up from his book, mumbling a farewell to the two students.

Marinette glanced at Adrien out of the corner of her eye, and was surprised to find him staring at her. Wordlessly, they made their way through the hallway. Their hands were still intertwined, earning several shocked looks from their fellow students. Marinette thought that she was either dreaming again, or she was in shock. There was no way that Adrien freakin' Agreste was holding her hand. If this was a dream, he would walk her to the nurse's office and proceed to make her feel better with the help of a hot and steamy make out session.

The thought alone was enough to turn her face a deep shade of crimson. She didn't know why Adrien made her this way. She stammered and blanked out when she just _thought_ of him. And now they were hand in hand, walking together. Oh god, what would she say when she actually talked to him? Would they ever talk again? What was going on?

They reached the door to the nurse, and Adrien let go of her hand. Marinette immediately missed his warmth. He opened the door for her, and placed his hand on the small of her back. It gave her chills, causing her to bite her lip. She hoped Adrien didn't feel the chill go through her…

"I'm going to stay with you the whole time to make sure that you're really okay." Adrien said, leading her through the door.

"I, uh, you… what?" She mumbled, looking up at him. Oh god, he was like pure sunshine!

He gazed down at her, concerned. "I think you might have a concussion… you really seem out of it…" he said, more to himself than to her. He sat her down at one of the chairs, before walking to the nurse.

"How can I help you, love?" The nurse smiled, looking up at him.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, my friend over there… she hit her head really hard on the bottom of a table, and now she's acting all funny…" Adrien sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I want to stay with her, just to make sure she's okay."

The nurse nodded. "Of course!"

* * *

"Well Miss. Dupain-Cheng, looks like you don't have a concussion this time. But you need to be more careful!" The nurse smiled, helping her stand. "I'll write both of you passes back to class. Mr. Agreste, make sure she gets there okay, yeah?"

Adrien nodded. He had stopped listening after hearing that she didn't have a concussion. He didn't know why he had wanted to stay with her the whole time, and was surprised when he felt fiercely protective of her. He barely knew her, and yet he had cared so much. Of course he would do this for anyone else, right?

Well maybe he'd make sure they got to the nurse's office, but he wouldn't stay with them…

So why was did he insist on staying?

He took Marinette's hand again, gratefully accepting the passes from the nurse. He led Marinette out of the cold office, sighing once the door shut. He looked at the room number on Marinette's pass, walking there as fast as he could. He just really wanted to be away from Marinette.

Not that he didn't like her. That wasn't it at all. It was the unknown feeling fluttering through him when her hand was in his. It was the feeling he got when he looked at her. It was looking at her up close and realizing just how many freckles she had. And he liked her. He had a small crush on her from the moment his umbrella closed on her… but he was so complicated, and he didn't have time for relationships. He could barely manage to keep up a friendship! No. A _relationship_ with Marinette was impossible. It was out of the question. He had to push those feelings down. He couldn't allow himself to feel them.


End file.
